Healthcare facility designers continue to further develop the concept of a “healing environment,” which includes the use of natural light, views of nature, strategic use of color and the elimination of noise, but the experts who judged the 88 entries in the 26th annual Modern Healthcare Design Awards say new hospitals will have to go way beyond that to stand out.

The idea behind the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Brooklyn Infusion Clinic, designed to be a prototype small-scale oncology center, was to bring cancer treatment into the neighborhood so patients can get treatment close to where they live.Judges were impressed by how ZGF Architects was able to bring this concept to life in a long, narrow storefront space. It was no easy task, says Sharron van der Meulen, a ZGF principal.“My first thought when we walked in was, ‘Oh my lord, how are we going to transform this?' ” she recalls.

With its environmentally friendly and economical construction, judges were impressed with the level of quality the Miami Valley Hospital Heart and Orthopedic Centers construction team was able to achieve for $309 a square foot. But what really won them over was the attention to details such as caregiver sightlines, patient-safety features and strategic placement of staff workstations.

This facility provides outpatient surgery, urgent care and more than 15 specialty services. According to awards judge Henry Chao, it also provides sophisticated architecture. “Everything about this project is well done,” he says. “It didn't break new ground, but it was incredibly well executed.” The center, which features energy-efficient lighting and environmental-control systems, holds gold certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program.

According to awards judge Sandra Shield Tkacz, this hospital features "whimsical moments" and other elements that inspire imagination. Judge Mark Lorenz also says he is impressed by the use of light and color in the facility's design.

Architects accomplished a lot in a small space with their design for this cancer-care center, says awards judge Henry Chao. “They managed to create a very open and nature-oriented space in an incredibly dense urban neighborhood,” he says.

In this design, awards judge Richard Galling says the architects did “an excellent job of fitting into a suburban environment and the vernacular of the community from a design standpoint,” adding that they also achieved “incredibly smooth” functionality and patient flow.

According to awards judge Jocelyn Frederick, architects did a nice job of integrating Hennepin County Medical Center's Whittier Clinic into its community. “It was very evident that they really did think about where it was placed,” she says.

Located in Orlando's Lake Nona medical city, 95-bed Nemours Children's Hospital will include amenities such as trails and outdoor therapy rooms. It also will feature specialty clinics, ambulatory-surgery services and a research center.

One judge described the center as having “a superior building aesthetic” with a “well-executed, handsome design envelope.” Others liked the relationships between the facility's departments and how exterior features related to outdoor elements.

At Phoenix Children's Thomas Campus, the patient tower—designed to resemble a desert flower—is “carefully crafted to respond to the Phoenix sun,” maximizing use of natural light and minimizing heat gain, according to the facility's architects.

Modern Healthcare's annual Design Awards program recognizes excellence in the design and planning of new and remodeled healthcare facilities. The program accepts submissions of all types and sizes of patient care-related facilities, and is open to registered architects only.

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